Newman Boards Skyfall , Bond Blu-ray Plans Announced

In a busy day of Bond news, 007.com has confirmed that Thomas Newman has signed on to compose the score for Skyfall, the 23rd James Bond adventure. Newman, a frequent collaborator of director Sam Mendes’, scored American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead and Revolutionary Road. The official announcement follows:

Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli today announced that composer Thomas Newman will score the 23rd James Bond film, SKYFALL. We are delighted to confirm that Thomas Newman will score SKYFALL. Thomas is one of the most respected and successful composers, he has a long history of working with Sam Mendes and we look forward to welcoming him into the Bond family, commented Michael. G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli.

Said Newman today, Im incredibly excited to be working with Sam again. Its a real thrill to be able to collaborate on something as special as a Bond movie.

Thomas Newman, born on 20th October 1955 in Los Angeles, California, has scored four of Sam Mendess previous movies: American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead and Revolutionary Road. He has composed the music to more than fifty films and television series including Erin Brockovich, The Shawshank Redemption and Wall-E and has earned ten Academy Award nominations, won a BAFTA, five Grammys and an Emmy.

Newman takes over musical duties from David Arnold who is currently Music Director of the London Olympic and Paralympic closing ceremonies. David will continue to be involved with the 50th anniversary of Bond and recently produced the John Barry Memorial Concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

Said Arnold of the news: Im a huge fan of Thomas Newman so I am as excited as anyone to see where Sam Mendes and his team take James Bond on his 50th anniversary.

Skyfall is set to hit theaters on November 9th of this year, the 50th anniversary of theatrical Bond films. In celebration, a special box set of the entire series on Blu-ray was announced today at CES. You can view the cover art and the press release below!

In celebration of James Bonds monumental golden anniversary, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment today unveiled BOND 50, a collectible box-set featuring all 22 James Bond films on Blu-ray Disc for the first time in one complete offering. The longest running film franchise of all time, the Bond 50 collection marks the debut of nine James Bond films previously unavailable in high definition Blu-ray. Fans around the world can pre-order now with participating online retailers.

Acclaimed Bond directors John Glen (five Bond films including For Your Eyes Only, Octopussy, A View to a Kill, The Living Daylights & Licence To Kill), Martin Campbell (GoldenEye, Casino Royale) and Michael Apted (The World Is Not Enough) with special guests Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) and Caterina Murino (Casino Royale) made the Blu-ray announcement today during a Directors Panel discussion in the Panasonic Booth at the annual Consumer Electronics Show.

BOND 50 showcases fifty years of Bond neatly packaged into one cool, sleek collectable box-set featuring all six iconic James Bond actors. Produced using the highest possible picture quality and audio presentation, the collection includes all 22 James Bond feature films from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace and more than 130 hours of bonus features including some new and exclusive content.

With all 22 feature films available on Blu-ray in one collection for the first time this is a great way for fans to catch up on 007s epic journey before Skyfall hits theaters next Fall, said Michael Brown, Senior Vice President, MGM Home Entertainment. Now viewers can enjoy the intense action of the innovative franchise in the most immersive home experience possible.

We have a whole program of exciting activities planned for our 50th anniversary year, beginning with todays announcement, by Fox, of the release of all 22 films on Blu-ray for the very first time, added Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, with Eon Productions. We are also delighted that Fox has unveiled a specially designed anniversary poster which we hope the fans will love as much as we do. Our website, 007.com will be regularly updated with all the latest anniversary news and events.